Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants Jarrad Branthwaite at Manchester United

Harry Maguire has yet to play for Manchester United this season but could be part of the England squad announced on Thursday as Gareth Southgate deals with defensive headaches.

The Euro 2020 runners-up continue the road to next summer’s tournament with a qualifier against Ukraine in Poland on September 9, before playing a friendly in Scotland three days later.

There have been few surprises in recent selections and that theme is likely to continue when Southgate names his squad for the double-header at St George’s Park on Thursday.

The England boss is expected to largely stick with the tried and tested, meaning the likes of and Maguire, Kalvin Phillips and Jordan Henderson may get the nod despite questions over their international futures.

Maguire was …

England and Scotland will meet for the 100th time in competitive internationals on Friday in a match that could prove pivotal to their respective Euro 2020 campaigns.

The Three Lions began Group D with a 1-0 win over Croatia at Wembley, while Scotland suffered a 2-0 loss to the Czech Republic, Patrik Schick scoring from a header and then a quite remarkable strike from near the halfway line.

This is typically a high-scoring match: these teams have met 32 times previously at England s national stadium and none of those matches has ended goalless. In the 21st century, this fixture averages four goals per game, with England scoring 11 and Scotland five overall.

Victory for Gareth Southgate s side would guarantee their place in the last 16, while a positive result is …

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Two sides who will be desperate to claim a first-leg Europa League advantage on Thursday evening, Brighton will make the trip to Italian icons Roma.

Starting with the hosts, while Roma might have continued to show some extended domestic inconsistencies this season, the Wolves are in the midst of a recent purple patch. Picking up some perfect momentum over the weekend as they stormed their way to a stellar 4-1 romp away at Monza, Daniele De Rossi’s men should find the mood in their camp at a red-hot high. Extending on their Europa League adventure on February 22nd after edging their way past Dutch giants Feyenoord, Roma have won all of their previous four appearances across all competitions. Likewise, aside from an action-packed 4-2 l…

Manchester City have moved to try to extend Ilkay Gundogan s stay at the Etihad Stadium in recent months.

The 32-year-old signed a four-year deal with City in 2019, meaning he is out of contract at the end of this season.

However, Gundogan has been in and out of the City starting line-up in recent months and has been weighing up his future.

TOP STORY GUNDOGAN SET ON BARCELONA SWITCH

Ilkay Gundogan s heart is set on leaving Manchester City for Barcelona in the off-season, claims SPORT.

Barcelona head coach Xavi is eager to land the German midfielder, who scored a double on the final day of last season to clinch City the Premier League title, for his versatility.

The report claims Gundogan feels it is time to move on from Manchester, having …

Juventus slow start to life under Massimiliano Allegri continued on Saturday as second-half goals from Matteo Politano and Kalidou Koulibaly saw them lose 2-1 at Napoli.

After being held by Udinese before suffering a shock home defeat to Empoli, it looked like being third time lucky for Allegri in his second spell in charge as Alvaro Morata profited from a terrible Kostas Manolas error to open the scoring early on.

But Napoli responded through a Politano strike shortly before the hour mark after Wojciech Szczesny pushed the ball into the forward s path, and the hosts completed the comeback thanks to Koulibaly s finish five minutes from time.

It is just the second time in 51 Serie A campaigns – the other occasion being in Allegri s first tenure in 2015-16 –  …

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Jonathan David from Lille in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that Tottenham are on the hunt for a new striker to replace Harry Kane, and that Juventus and Canada international star David is among those who are on their radar.

Kane is one of the best strikers in the world and was the best player for Tottenham for a number of years. During his time in the Premier League, the England international striker made 320 appearances, scoring 213 goals and providing 46 assists in the process.

David has been on the books of Lille since 2020 and has established himself as one of the best young strikers in the French league. The Canda international striker scored 24 goals and gave four assists in 36 Ligue 1…

According to Fabrizio Romano, Manchester United s Facundo Pellistri will join Granada on loan for the rest of the season by the end of the day (Tuesday). The negotiations between the two clubs were long, but a full agreement has been reached and the move is now imminent.

The 22-year-old winger, playing predominantly on the right, rose through the youth ranks at Penarol in his native Uruguay and joined United in a €8.5 million deal in the summer of 2020. At the age of 22, he already has some experience in the Spanish top flight, having spent a total of 18 months over two separate loan spells with Alaves, the club he represented on 35 occasions, 33 in La Liga.

As for United, Pellistri has played 24 matches for his parent club and he is yet to score his first goal, thoug…

Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez combined brilliantly as Inter survived a late Sassuolo recovery to win 4-3 at Mapei Stadium on Sunday.

Defeat to Juventus before the international break shunted Antonio Conte s men down to second in Serie A but a superb performances from their front two trimmed the margin at the top back to a point.

Martinez made an early incision and Lukaku struck twice in seven minutes to establish a two-goal advantage at half-time, Domenico Berardi having fleetingly restored parity for the hosts.

The exceptional Martinez won the penalty for his strike partner s second and, in the 71st minute, dispatched a spot-kick of his own, although the visitors were made to fight for victory as substitutes Filip Djuricic and Jeremie Boga set up a gr…

Cristiano Ronaldo joined an elite list of players by scoring the 700th goal of an incredible career in Portugal s 2-1 defeat to Ukraine on Monday.

Portugal may have suffered a setback in their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, but it was still an occasion to remember for the 34-year-old in Kiev.

Ronaldo converted a second-half penalty to reach the personal landmark, 17 years on from scoring his first senior goal for Sporting Lisbon against Moreirense.

Here, we take a closer look at the Juventus forward s scoring stats for club and country down the years with the aid of Opta.

700 Cristiano Ronaldo has scored his 700th career goal for club and country:

Sporting CP 5
Manchester United 118
Real Madrid 450
Juventus 32
Portugal 95

Legendary. <…

Kepa Arrizabalaga has always been a fine goalkeeper when on his line, but the other areas of goalkeeping have always been problematic, with a mistake never too far away.

Liverpool s opening goal against Bournemouth at Anfield on Saturday, scored by Luis Diaz, was a perfect example of that. The reasons for the former Chelsea shot-stopper deciding to rush out of his box like that can only be explained by a complete misjudgment of the long pass from Ibrahima Konate.

Nothing should, however, be taken away from Diaz s finish, which still took some top-class composure.

Tremendous pass. Incredible composure.

— Liverpool FC (@LFC)

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